Record controlled machine



May 2 1939. A. E. GRAY 2,156,979

RECORD CONTROLLED MACHINE I Filed May 9, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet l v m 1;? m

. RCR MGR O LCLZ O L" g 1 HUGWUPPER e' iz Q 0 awmauq'nmlrs (3113 6 UB L12 CR1 May 2, 1939. A, E, G Y 2,156,979

RECORD CONTROLLED MACHINE Filed May v9, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 xi/MEL: no. m'v.'

" MN I B I I GCR -V k a k B INVENTOR.

. Y- Y Y j .7 COLOR s'lz's ARTICLE N0. 4 w. GROUP A TTO EYS.

May 2, 1939. A. E. GRAY RECORD CONTROLLED MACHINE Filed May 9, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 E a Y c 0 CARD ANALYZING BRUSHES /RECORD CfiRD 6 m T n m R .FOTAL' PRINT/N6 FIG].

. S M v. N m m T m2 1 A Y B u=w$fiuu O 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 .;outszw o m H mm o 9 N am O a m M O 1 M QC 0 s m mu 0 s N m m o 4 m N O a 5 D. O y 2 =$0123O56789 Patented May 2, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT ori-ica Corporation,

' New York, a. .Y.. a corporation of New York Application May a, 19:4, sci-n1 No. 724,079 2 Claims. (01. ass-61.1

This invention relates to record controlled accounting and statistical machines in general.

The broad object of the present invention is to provide an improved and more flexible automatic group control mechanism.

An object is to provide an automatic group control mechanism wherein the scope of the control is automatically changed as by expansion and/or contraction of the group control fields.

Another object is to provide an automatic group control mechanism capable of being split into sections which function in response to a plurality of group control fields on records with means for automatically changing the splitting of the control mechanism whereby the scope of one or more of the control sections can be automatically changed while the records are being fed through the machine and the data on said cards are being printed and/or accumulated.

A further object is to provide means for automatically changing the scope of one of the fields with or without a corresponding change in scope of other sections. 7

Another object is to provide an automatic group control mechanism which is capable of automatic accommodation to differently arranged control fields or to variation in the number columns devoted to classification or group numbers.

Still another object is to providean automatic group control mechanism which is capable of automatic accommodation to changes which may take place in the grouping or arrangement of the columns in the records devoted to classification numbers.

Various other objects, advantages, and features of the invention will be stated in the following. description and claims or will be apparent from a study of the description, claims, and

drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram oi the automatic group mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a skeleton circuit diagram to illustrate the ordinary way of plugging of the automatic group control mecha Fig. 3 is a skeleton circuit diagramshowing how the machine. is plugged to automatically" change the scope of minor control accompanied by a change in scope of the major control.

Fig. 4 is a matic change in scope of minor control without aflecting the scope of the major control.

Fig. 5 is a skeleton circuit diagram showing how the machine is plugged to change the scope skeleton circuit diagram showing how the machine is plugged to obtain auto-' 0! the major control without aflecting the minor control.

Fig. 6 is a timing chart for the electrical circuits.

Fig. 7 is a view of a fragment ofa record card showing how theclassification or group numbers and the special control holes may be punched in the record cards.

The present invention, for convenience, will be described with reference to an electrically controlled accounting and statistical machine now well-known in the art as the International electric accounting machine. Its basic principle of operation is fully explained in numerous patents granted to Herman Hollerith and other patents which are familiar to those skilled'in constructing record-controlled accounting machines.

The mechanical construction of the machine and the electrical circuits are, in general, substantially the same as in Patents No. 1,822,594 and No. 1,762,245, which are merely representative. ihe automatic group control mechanism may be the same in general principle as the one described in Patent No. 1,933,308. The mechanical construction of the accumulating mechanism is described in Patent No. 1,307,740. Reference may be had to the'above patents and others named therein for an understanding of many of the general details of construction of the machine, description of which necessarily must be avoided hereinafter for sake of brevity. Where material difierences exist between the machines described in the above patents and those parts of such machines directly involved herein, such differences will be briefly described.

Certain cam actuated contacts will be mentioned herein from time to time. Those designated by a letter L and a numeral sufilx are operated by the usual tabulating motor (not shown) and are active only when cards are being fed past the analyzing brushes. Their cams make one revolution per card cycle.' Other contacts designated by the letter P and a numeral sufilx' are operated by cams driven by the usual resetting motor (not shown) and are active only during resetting and total printing cycles. The latter cams make one revolution per reset cycle. The timing of these contacts is shown in Fig. 6 where the heavy black lines indicate the duration of the contact 01' the respective cam contacts. The circuits for the tabulating motor and resetting motor have been omitted from the drawings, as they are not sumciently involved in the present description to warrant showing them in the drawings. These circuits are fully described in the cited patents.

The usual upper analyzing brushes UB (Fig. l) cooperate with a contact roll CRI which'is connected to line wire WI through contacts LI2, while the usual lower brushes LB cooperate with contact roll CR2 which is connected to line wire W2 through the usual impulse distributor ID and lower card lever contacts LCLI. The lower brushes LB can, as usual, be plugged directly to printer magnets and/or countermagnets and for this purpose triple plug sockets I 0 are provided. The upper brushes also can be plugged to certain special control devices or to the automatic group control mechanism and for this purpose plug sockets II are provided.

The automatic group control mechanism includes a majorcontrol relay MJ, a minor control relay MN, and a number of group control relays GCR of which there may be as many as sixteen provided. Only nine of the relays GCR are shown in Fig. 1 and are numbered I to 9 for convenience in description. The lower coils of these relays are connected to plug sockets I2, I3 which can be connected as by plug wires like I4, ii, to plug sockets III, II. Any number of the lower coils of relays GCR may be so plugged, according to the number. of digits in the classification or group numbers punched in the record cards. Each of the upper coils of relays QCR. is in series with contacts A of such relays, and the nine short series circuits thus formed are connected in parallel by line wires W6, W1. Line wire W8 is connected to line wire WI through cam operated contacts LII, while line wire W1 is connected directly to line wire W2.

Contacts B of relays GCR are connected in a series circuit extending from .line wire WI, contacts A of minor control relay MN, the coil of said relay, the coil of zero button relay ZBR, a plug wire II, said contacts B, a plug wire I8, and upper card lever contacts UCLI, to line wire W2. This constitutes the minor control circuit when the machine is feeding cards past the brushes UB, LB, and contacts UCLI are thus kept closed.

Cam operated contacts L2 shunt the part of the minor control circuit including contacts B of relays GCR and UCLI except during a brief period of each card feeding cycle (see Fig. 6) when contacts L2 open to ascertain the condition of contacts B of relays GCR. Fig. 2 shows the minor control circuit more clearly.

When the machine is feeding cards and contacts LCL2 are thus kept open, a major control circuit may extend from line wire WI, contacts A of the major control relay MJ, the coil of said relay; a plug wire I9 inserted in one of the plug sockets 20 connected to contacts B of relays GCR, one or more of said contacts B, according to the position of the plug wire I9 in plug sockets 20 between said contacts B; plug wire IB, and contacts UCLI, to line wire W2 (see, Fig. 2 also). Cam operated contacts LI, similar to contacts L2 shunt all the contacts B of relays GCR to the right of plug wire I9 and contacts LCL2 except for a brief period in each card feeding cycle (Fig. 2) when contacts LI open to test the condition of the last named contacts B. It is plain that, if any of the contacts B to the left of plug, wire I9 (see Fig. '2) are open when contacts LI, L2 open, the minor control circuit will be interrupted but the major control circuit will not be affected.

On the other hand, if one or more contacts B to the right of plug wire I9 are open, irrespective of the condition of the others,both control circuits will be interrupted since both can only be maintained through the contacts B to the right of plug wire I9 when cam contacts LI, L2 open.

It will be assumed at this point that the machine is to operate under control of major group or classification numbers not exceeding five digits and minor group or classification numbers not exceeding four digits. Accordingly the righthand five plug sockets I2 (Fig. 1) will be plugged by plug wires like I! to the plug sockets I I of the five upper brushes UB corresponding to the five columns of the record cards in which the major group number is punched, while the remaining four plug sockets I2 at the left will be plugged to the plug sockets II corresponding to the upper brushes UB sensing the columns in which the minor group number is punched. The plug sockets I3 will be similarly plugged to the lower brushes LB sensing the columns of the cards in which the major and minor group number appear.

holding circuit for this relay through cam contacts LI I and line wires W8, W1.

Thus if the minor group number is the same on two successively fed cards all the contacts B of the left-hand group numbered 6 to 9 will be closed as in Fig. 2 and the opening of contacts L2 will have no effect on the circuit including minor relay MN. Similarly if the major group number is the same on two successive cards, all the contacts B of the right-hand group of relays GCR, numbered I to 5, will be closed when contacts LI open and major relay MJ will not be affected as in Fig. 2.

The contacts B of relays MN, MJ are connected in parallel by line wire WI and a wire W3 leading to the usual reset magnet control relay RCR andmotor control relay MCR. The latter, when energized, prevents starting the usual tabulating motor or causes it to stop as in the case of relay I5 in Patent No. 1,933,308 while relay RCR prevents deenergization of the magnet operating the clutch connecting the usual reset motor to the total taking and resetting mechanism and corresponds in function to relay 28 of Patent No. 1,933,308.

After the cards have been placed in the machine hopper and the main switch is closed to render line wires WI, W2 live, it is obvious from Fig. 1 that relays RCR and MCR will be immediately energized thus preventing starting of the usual tabulating motor. A reset cycle must be initiated manually in the usual fashion during which cycle cam contacts P2 close and reopen before cam contacts PI close (Fig. 6). Asa result, relay MN is energized over a circuit from line wire WI, contacts PI, coil of relay MN, relay ZBR, and contacts L2, to line wire W2. This circuit can also extend to line wire W2 through contacts LI and lower card lever contacts LCL2 which are not opened until the first card from the hopper reaches the lower brushes LB.

Relays RCR; MCR will remain energized, however, as relay MJ is still deenergized, and the relay RCR has the effect, as in Patent No. 1,933,-

308, of causing a second reset cycle to take place 15 automatically. Closure of contacts A of relay MN establishes a holding circuit for said relay which cannot be broken except when contacts L2 open during a subsequent card feeding cycle.

During the second reset cycle contacts P2 close and the major relay MJ is energized over a circuit from line wire WI, contacts A of relay MN, contacts P2, coil of relay MJ, and lower card lever contacts LCL2 (which, as stated above, are

not opened until the first card reaches the lower brushes), to line wire W2. This circuit can also v extend through contacts LI to line wire W2.

Contacts A of relay MJ establish a holding circuit for said relay which circuit cannot be broken until contacts LI open during a subsequent card feeding cycle. The opening of contacts B of relay MJ during the second reset cycle causes deenergization of both relays RCR. and MCR. with the result that the reset motor stops at the end of such cycle.

The tabulating motor can now be started manually in the usual fashion by depression of a starting key and will drive the card feeding mechanism for two successive cycles. During the first of these card feeding cycles contacts LI, L2 will open but will still have no effect as upper card lever contacts UCL2, which shunt contacts LI, L2, do not open until the first card,

fed during the first card feeding cycle, arrives at the upper brushes at the end of such cycle and lower card lever contacts LCL2 are still closed, the relays MN, MJ being kept energized by the current through contacts UCL2,'LCL2. When the second card feeding cycle commences, to feed the second card to the upper brushes and the first card to the lower brushes, contacts vUCLI, and UCL2 will be closed and open, respectively, but contacts LCLI, LCL2 will still be open and closed, respectively.

During this second card cycle relay MJ will not be affected when contacts Ll open as contacts LCL2 are still closed, but the fact that contacts LCLI are open will prevent current from flowing through relays GCR by way of the upper and lower brushes over parallel circuits which normally would extend as follows: Line wire WI,

cam contacts LI2, contact roll CRI, upper' brushes UB, the plug wires I from sockets II to sockets I2, the coils of relays GCR, the plug wires I4 between plug sockets I3 and I0, lower brushes LB, contact roll CR2, the segments of the usual impulse distributor ID, card lever contacts LCLI when closed, to line wire W2. Thus the opening of contacts LI has no effect but the opening of contacts L2 will cause deenergization of relay MN as all the contacts B of relays GCR. are open and the circuit for relay MN must go through either contacts L2 or such contacts B (see Fig. 2). l

A third reset cycle is now automatically initiated by closure of contacts B of relay MN which causes relay MCR to be energized to stop the tabulating motor and start the resetting motor as in Patent No. 1,933,308. By the end of the second card feeding cycle the first card from as has been assumed so far and as will be as- *sumed hereinafter, the usual automatic restart switch is closed, the tabulating motor will restart automatically at the end of the third reset cycle and the first card will be carried past the lower brushes LB and the data punched therein will be accumulated and/or printed in the usual way in accordance with the plugging of the counter magnets and printer magnets.

If in the course of the feeding of cards, the major group numbers disagree in two successive cards, one or more of the contacts B of relays GCR numbered I to 5 (Fig. 2) will fail to close and the opening of contacts LI, L2 will break the circuits of both relays MN, MJ, thus causing their contacts B to close thereby energizing relay MCR which causes the tabulating motor to stop. Two successive reset cycles will be initiated automatically provided, as will be assumed hereinafter, the usual automatic reset switch is closed. During these cycles totals are printed and accumulators reset as described .in Patent No. 1,933,308, the relays MN, MJ reenergized, and the tabulating motor automatically restarted.

If a change occurs in any of the columns devoted to the minor group numbers, one or more of the contacts B of relays GCR numbered 6 to 9 will fail to close and while the opening of contacts LI will have no effect on relay MJ, the opening of contacts L2 will deenergize relay MN and its contacts B will close, energizing relay MCR and again causing the tabulating motor to stop. A single reset cycle is then initiated automatically during which minor totals are printed, relay MN reenergized, and the tabulating motor automatically restarted.

During each cycle, the relays GCR which are energized due to agreement in value of the holes in the columns of the cards corresponding to the' energized relays GCR will be deenergized toward the end of such cycle by the opening of cam contacts LIZ. This does not happen until after contacts LI, L2 have reclosed (Fig. 6) so that the circuits for relays MN, MJ are not disturbed unless one or more of the relays GCR have not been energized.

It will be observed that when nine relays GCR have been plugged to the brushes sensing nine columns of each card, the insertion of plug wire I9 in the socket 20 between the fifth and sixth relays GCR, as in Fig. 2, splits the relays into two groups or sections, one for major control and the other for minor control. If the plug wire I9 is shifted to the right in Figs. 1 and 2, the scope of the control exercised by minor relay MN is increased and the scope of the major'contrcl relay decreased, provided the plug wire I8 is not shifted further to the right toinclude as many. other relays GCR as may be desired up to the capacity of the group control mechanism. If the plug wire I9 is shifted to the left, and the plug wire I8 remains as in Fig. 2, the reverse is true. If plug wire I8 is shifted to the left, and plug wire I9 is not disturbed, the scope of the major relay MJ alone is diminished. By properly positioning plug wires I8, I9 in sockets 20, the machine is accommodated to group numbers according to any number of digits-involved up to the capacity of the machine as limited by the number of relays GCR provided in each individual machine. As was previously stated, from eight to sixteen such relays may be provided. Once the machine has been plugged as described, however, the scope of the relays MN, MJ is fixed for all cards of a batch fed through the machine and if it is desired to change the scope of either or both of the relays, the plugging must be done by hand with the machine stopped and the current to -line wires WI, W2 interrupted. It is feasible and safe to plug the machine while the line wires WI, W2 are live but this is not ordinarily advisable as an extra precaution against carelessness, particularly in the case of machines using 220 volt current.

There have been cases where it has been desired to automatically change the scope of the control relays MN, MJ while the machine is feeding cards, in other words, to cause different groups of cards of a single batch to be treated differently from others with respect to the group numbers.

This feature will be found of value in the case where all the groups of records in a batch may have the same arrangement of columns as in Fig. 7 but it may be desired to major control certain of these groups on, let us say, columns I to 3 and minor control in columns 4 to 9 instead of in columns I to 5 and B to 9, respectively. Or it may be desired to omit minor control in, say columns 9 and I0, and minor control in columns 2 to I only.

Fig. 7 shows a fragment of a card adapted to be punched in accordance with classification or group numbers representing color, size, article number, division, catalogue prefix, and group. With the machine plugged so that the punched card columns numbered I to 9 in Fig. 7 correspond to the relays GCR similarly numbered I to 9, and plug wires I8, I9 positioned as previously described in connection with Fig. 2, a reset cycle would be initiated each time the color and/or size code numbers change, and-,a minor total will be printed. In other words failure of any two successive cards to agree only in columns 6 to 3 of the cards (Fig. '7) would cause the printing of a total of the minor group identified by the classification holes in the first of the two nonagreeing cards. On the other hand, a disagreement in one or more of columns I to 5 will cause initiation of two successive reset cycles in which both major and minor totals will be printed.

It may be desired that the cards of one group control the machine to cause initiation of a reset cycle to print a minor total when one or bothof the holes in columns 4- and 5 or any others to the right (Fig. 7) disagree on two successive cards, or, in another group, to initiate a minor total printing cycle when holes disagree in column 3 or any of the columns to the right of such column (Fig; '7). As a third case, it may be desired that a disagreement in any or all of the columns except column I will cause a minor total to be printed, major totals being printed only when the holes in column I disagree.

It is impossible to obtain the above results on present machines as the operators can not tell which groups are to be given different treatment without repeatedly stopping the machine and if they could, the machine would have to be stopped and re-plugged between the groups. This would be a nuisance and time consuming besides likely to result in errors.

The present invention is designed to auto matically change the scope of the group control while the cards are being fed, analyzed, and items therein are being accumulated and/or printed in the usual Way. Means is provided whereby the presence of special control holes in the cards of certain groups automatically causes the group control mechanism to change in scope whereby to treat the cards of certain groups differently from others. As will be seen later, the invention broadly consists in providing flexible means adapted to automatically shift or change the position of plug wires Il, I3, I! according to the results it is desired to obtain.

These results will depend largely on how the plug wires I'I, I8, I9 are inserted in the plug sockets of the special control unit hereinafter to be described and whose circuits are inclosed in the rectangle outlined by broken lines in Fig. l.

The special control unit comprises'five shift relays SRI to SR5 inclusive, four of which (SRI, SR2, SR4, SR5) are adapted to be energized under direct control of special control holes provided in the cards for that purpose. The coils of relays SRI, SR2, SR3 and SR5 are all connected to line wire WI by a wire W5 and the other ends of coils SRI, SR2, and SR5 are individually connected to plug sockets 2I, 22 and 23, respectively, through cam contacts L3, L8, and L6, M, respectively (Fig. 1). Contacts A of relays SRI, SR2 are connected to the coils of such relays and to a wire W8 which, in turn, is connected to line wire W2 through cam contacts LIB. The contacts A of relay SR5 are connected to its coil and to line wire W2 through cam contacts LI3. The coil of relay SR4 is connected to line wire W2 and to a plug socket 24 through cam contacts L3. L4. Contacts A of relay SR4 are connected to the coil of such relay and the line wire WI through cam contacts L5. Wire W5, the coil of relay SR3, and contacts B of relays SR4, SR5 form a series circuit between line wires WI, W2. Contacts A of relay SR3 when closed shunt the lower card lever contacts LCL2. All the foregoing circuits may be termed subsidiary control circuits and are shown by light lines in Fig. 1.

Contacts C of relays SRI,'SR2 when normally closed as in Fig. 1 form a first primary circuit between plug sockets 25, 26 indicated by thick lines. When relay SRI alone is energized, a second primary circuit is formed between plug socket 25 and a plug socket 21 and includes contacts B and C of relays SRI, SR2, in series, respectively. Energization of relay SR2 alone establishes a third primary circuit between plug socket 25 and a plug socket 28 and includes contacts B, C of relays SR2, SR3, respectively, in series. When both relays SR2, SR3 are energized a fourth primary circuit extends between plug socket 25 and a plug socket 23 and comprises contacts B of relays SR2, SR3 in series. The

last three circuits are also shown by thick lines.

The four primary circuits just described can be plugged in various ways to secure a number of novel results of which severed about to be described are only a few of the infinite number of arrangements possible. These various methods of plugging are shown schematicallyin Figs. 3 to 5 inclusive. In these figures, as in the case of Fig. 2, it is assumed that the classification num bers agreed and caused closure of contacts B of relays GCR.

The first arrangement, shown in Fig. 3, illustrateshow, in effect, the position of plug wire I3 may be shifted from left to right to change the point of split. so as to increase the scope of the minor control and decrease the scope of the major control. Plug wires I1, I I are in the normal positions shown in Fig. 1, plug wire I3 is inserted in plug socket 25, and plug wires 33, 3|, 32, 33 are inserted in plug sockets 20 as shown in Fig. 3 to split the contacts B of relays GCR into five groups each controlled by the holes in the columns of the card in Fig. 7 corresponding to the numbers identifying the relays. The classification status of these groups is indicated by the words below the braces in Fig. 3.

In column III, all the cards of some of the groups will have a 2 hole punched while the cards of other groups may have a-.3" hole punched in such column. Double plug sockets serted directly into the third plug socket 20 from the left Figs. 1 and 3. A change in the color code numbers alone will cause one or both of the two left-hand contacts B of relays GCR to remain open and a reset cycle will be initiated to cause the printing of a minor total. A change in any of the other group numbers will cause two successive reset cycles to be initiated as described to print both minor and major totals.

If now a different group of cards passes the brushes UB, LB the presence, of say a "2 hole in the firstcard of such group will cause energization of relay SRI at the 2" point in the cycle when cam contacts L9 close (Fig. 6) over a circuit as follows: Line wire WI, wire W5, coil of relay SRI, cam contacts L9, the plug wire between plug sockets 2I and III, the brush LB sensing column Ill and the 2 hole in the card, contact roll CR2, impulse distributor lID, lower card lever contacts LCLI to line wire W2.

Contacts A of relay SRI will close and establish a holding circuit for the coil of such relay through cam contacts LIII. The latter remain closed while cam contacts LI, L2 are opening so that the second primary circuit is established and its effect is to shift the plug wire I9 from the third plug socket 20 from the left to the fifth from the left. In other words, when LI, L2 open, the four left-hand contacts B of relays GCR will control relay MN and the others will control relay MJ. All the following cards having a 2 hole will establish the second primary circuit which is broken near the end of each cycle when cam contacts LIII open (Fig. 6).

If, while the group .of cards having 2, holes in column III are passing the analyzing brushes, a change in group number occurs in columns 6 to 9, a minor total will be printed while if the change occurs in columns I to 5, both a major and a minor total will be printed.

If another group of card holes in column It) provided with 3 passes the analyzing brushes, the relay SR2 will be energized in exactly the same fashion each time a card having a 3 hole passes the lower brushes. This time the third primary circuit will be established and the machine will minor control in accordance with color and size code numbers and article number, and major control in accordance with the division and group" classification numbers.

The operation of relays SRI, SR2 above described is the simplest of which the machine is capable. The operation of these relays has an effect which may be likened to. the shifting of the slider contact of a conventional potentiometer, causing the minor control to increase in scope while the major control proportionately decreases in scope.

Obviously relay SR3" could be controlled in a manner similar to that of relays SRI, SR2, that is, cam contacts like L8, L9 and a plug socket like 2I could be provided. Conveniently relay SR8 could be controlled by a 4 hole in column 1.0 in which case the cam contacts for relay SR3 would be closed only at the 4 point in the cycle. a

In practice it has been found desirable sometimes to provide a slightly different control for relay SR3. This control is exercised by relays SR4, SR5. Assume that a group passes the lower brushes the cards of which group have 1 holes in, let us say, column II and a "3 hole in column II as in Fig. 7. Plug sockets 23 and 24 are connected by plug wires to the plug sockets III and I I, respectively, corresponding to the brushes LB, UB which sense column II. The plugging arrangement is otherwise the same as already described above in connection with Fig. 3. The "3 hole in the first card causes relay SR2 to be energized while the 1 hole in the first two cards of a group causes energization of both relays SR4, SR5 when the first two cards pass the upper and lower brushes together. The circuit which energizes relay SR4 extends from line wire WI, through cam contacts LI2, contact roll CRI, upper brush UB sensing column II through the 1 hole in the card, the plug wire between plug sockets II and 24, cam contacts L3, coil of relay SR4, to line wire W2. Contacts A of relay SR4 close to establish a holding circuit for said relay through cam contacts L5. Relay SR4 closes its contacts B.

The circuit for relay SR5 is as follows: Line wire WI, wire W5, coil oi relay SR5, cam contacts L6, plug wire between the plug so'ck'et 23 and plug socket I corresponding to the brush LB sensing column II of the card, said brush, contact roll CR2, impulse distributor ID, contacts LCLI, to line wire W2. Contacts A of relay SR establish a holding circuit for its coil through cam contacts LI3. Closure of contacts B of both relays SR4, SR5 energizes relay SR3. When cam contacts LI, L2 open all four relays SR2 to SR5 will be in energized condition thus the fourth primary circuit will be established and all the contacts B of relays GCR except the one numbered I will control relay MN. At the same time, contacts A of relay SR3 will be closed and, by shunting card lever contacts LCL2, will keep relay MJ energized regardless of a possible nonagreement of the holes in column I of the two cards passing brushes U13 and LB at this time. In other words the machine will be minor controlling only, with the scope of the control expanded to include column 2 of the cards.

. As long as two successive cards have "1 holes in column II both relays SR4, SR5 will be energized during each cycle and prevent the major control relay from functioning notwithstanding possible changes in column I. If relay SR4 is not energized as when the first card of a different group, not having 1" holes therein passes the upper brushes UB, contacts B of such relay will remain open and prevent energization of relay SR3 but relay SR2 will be energized. due to the 3 hole in the last card of the group having 1 holes in column II and the major relay will be controlled by the group numbers punched in columns I to 3.

The mode of operation illustrated by Fig. 3 results in changing the scope of the minor control .at the expense of reducing the scope of the major control. It is possible to plug the special wire I9 in the plug socket 20 next to the last one on the right. Plug wires 30 to 33 have been inserted as shown into every second socket 20 beginning with the first one on the left. The relays SRI to SR5 will be assumed to be plugged as described above and operated under control of 2 and 3 holes in column ID or the combination of a "3 hole in column I and a "1 hole in column H. The presence of a 2 hole in a card has the effect of shifting plug wire ll to the right so. that the machine will no longer minor control in accordance with color code numbers. A "3 hole shifts plug wire l1 still farther to the right so that minor control is in accordance with article number and division. A 3 hole in column H) of the first card and a 1 hole in both of two successively fed cards causes minor control in accordance with the division number only and the major control is rendered inactive. This mode of operation is useful in dealing with batches of cards wherein many cards relate to items which are not identified by color, while others may not be identified by color and size, that is. where size and article number or article number alone are the only significant group numbers aside from the division number. By interchanging plug 'wires 30, 33 and 3|, 32 the operation may be reversed, that is the plug wire i'l will in effect be transferred from right to left. In this case the malor control will be rendered inefi'ective when the scope of the minor control is a maximum.

Fig. 5 illustrates how the machine may be plugged toreduce the scope of the major control without affecting the minor control. This view will be largely self-explanatory. the operation of relays SRI to SR5 being the same except that contacts B of relay SR3 are not plugged to a socket 20 since energization of relay SR3 renders the relay MJ ineffective and it is obvious that the. closure of such contacts would have no effect. If relay SR3 were controlled, like relays SRI, SR2, directly by a hole in a card and its contacts A eliminated, then, of course, the plug 0 wire 33 could be inserted in any one of the plug sockets 20 to have the desired effect of.

changing the scope of the major control. I

The plug wires 30 to 33 can be inserted in plug sockets 20 according to any preconceived plan as it is not necessary that they follow the progressive systems of connection shown in Figs. 3 to 4. Various other methods of plugging will be found desirable in solving the automatic control problems met in the field. The scheme whereby relay SR3 has the effect of destroying the control functions of major control relay MJ need not be followed but this relay can be controlled directly by a hole in column in to operate in exactly the same fashion as the relays SRI, SR2. Obviously, additional relays like SRI, SR2 can be provided to automatically shift the effective position of one or more of plug wires 30 to 33.

The automatic control group control mechanism may 'be disabled entirely by closing switches SI, S2 or, by closing switch S2 only, control will be effected in accordance with changes in minor classification numbers only. The switches SI, S2 are common equipment and have the effect when closed, of maintaining the circuits for relays MN, MJ, irrespective of the action of contacts Ll, L2 or contacts B of relays GCR... By closing switches SI, 82 the effect of relays SR1 to SR4 can be nullified. Closing switch S2 alone will have the effect in Figs. 3 and 4 of merely preventing initiation of major totals without affecting relays SRI to SR, while in Fig. 5 closure of switch S2 will render the relays SRI to SR4 of no effect but will still permit control in accordance with minor changes in columns 8 and 9 only.

It will be seen that the present invention provides a flexible means whereby the usual automatic group control mechanism, which can be manually split into sections of predetermined scope by means of the plug wires l1, l8, It, can also be automatically and differently split, while the machine is running, into several sections of different scope.

One important advantage of the invention is that the machine will automatically take care of changesin the arrangement of the classification holes as by expansion or contraction of the control fields in the cards or changes in the method of classification. In other words, the machine will automatically accommodate itself to groups of cards which may have fewer or more classification number columns than other groups or to groups of cards wherein the classification fields differ in meaning from the classification fields of other groups of cards. Thus, the nine columns of Fig. '7 devoted to the classification code numbers could have different meanings or be divided differently in different groups of cards, requiring a different way of splitting tails of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is as follows:

1. In a machine of the class described, means for concurrently sensing group classification designations in a plurality of columns of a pair of record cards, a series of settable group control elements, one for each of said plurality of columns, means controlled by said sensing means for effecting a setting of each element whose related column contains the same designation on both cards, a machine operation controlling member, means normally connecting said member with said series of elements for control thereby in accordance with their composite setting, further sensing means, acting concurrently of said elements comprising a still lesser number of elements whereby said member will be controlled in accordance with the composite setting of said still lesser number.

2. In a machine 0! the class described, means for concurrently sensing group classification designations in a plurality of columns of a pair of record cards, a series of normally open contacts, one for each of said plurality of columns, arranged to be connected in a series circuit when all are closed, means controlled by said sensing means for closing each contact whose related column contains the same designation on both cards, a control magnet, a circuit connection including said magnet and said series or contacts for energizing said magnet when all the contacts are closed. further sensing means, acting con- 20 currently with said first named sensing means.

- for sensing a further column of one of said pair of cards for further classification designations, means controlled thereby upon sensing a predetermined designation for opening said circuit connection and efiecting a difierent circuit connection including said magnet and a lesser number of said series of contacts to energize said magnet when all the contacts of said lesser number are closed andiurther means controlled by said further sensing means upon sensing a different predetermined classification designation for opening said circuit connection, preventing the eflecting of said different circuit connection and eflecting a third circuit connection including said magnet and a still lesser number of said series of contacts to energize said magnet when all the contacts of said still lesser number are closed.

ALVIN E. GRAY. 20 

